Southern Charms

by Trana Mae Simmons

  She instinctively headed for the ranch, but when she had it in sight, she pulled Cinder up. Ahead of her lay another lie—the lie that made up the life she lived all these years.

  Had Elvina known all along, and withheld the truth from her?

  She gazed around her. The sky was still blue; the sun still shone. Everywhere, lives swirled along their own paths, diverging and connecting without rhyme or reason. Or so it seemed.

  Almost eighteen years ago, her life had veered off course. What had Shane said? That her aunt had instigated the kidnapping? What sort of family did she have for something like that to happen? Only a truly evil person would wreak some sort of misguided vengeance on a small child.

  Realizing she had a million other questions needing answers before she could sort everything out in her mind, Ellie nudged Cinder onward. Her answers lay with Mariana Morgan, and she would see her this evening.

  And while both Shane and his mother appeared to be satisfied as to Ellie’s true identity, she wasn’t sure at all in her own mind. It was too big a step to take—to believe that she might have gone from a very poor little orphan girl to a rich—Shane had mentioned a fortune, after all—New York City heiress in the space of one conversation with the man who held her heart.

  Because Shane still held it. She couldn’t reason herself out of that emotion, although she didn’t see how she could forgive his deceit. Look at what the deceit of others had already done to her life, if she truly were Cynthia Parker. It had stolen her very identity from her.

  She rode Cinder into the barn and spent a long half hour currying the gelding before she turned him into the corral. Still she came to no firm conclusions in her troubled thoughts; had no startling revelations. Too many things remained cloudy. Too many questions held a “what if” slant attached to them.

  Avoiding Fatima successfully, she went to her room. She opened the closet door, disgusted when she felt a surge of disappointment at not seeing another new gown, which she might wear to dinner this evening. How quickly she had come to depend on Fatima’s magic!

  She took her second-best gown with her to the bathing room, using the one upstairs instead of chancing Fatima being in the kitchen. At least she had smelled something cooking down there, so Withers or Elvina must have convinced Fatima to prepare dinner for the Morgans this evening. Hopefully the food would be edible.

  After bathing, Ellie spent the rest of the afternoon in her room, attempting to read but finally giving up and staring out the window. Hearing a noise, she gave a start and opened her eyes. Darn, she had fallen asleep, head pillowed on her shoulder as she leaned back in the windowseat. Now she had a crick in her neck and felt the need to wash her face.

  At least the nap had given her a respite from her thoughts. But the noise had been a buggy arriving—no, two of them. Both the Morgans and Rockford Van Zandt had arrived.

  Ellie stood and went over to her water pitcher and basin, kept full for the times when Elvina hogged the bathing room. After washing her face and brushing her hair, she headed downstairs.

  As she descended the stairwell, Ellie found Elvina and Darlene in the foyer, greeting their visitors. Mariana Morgan crossed the floor and held her hands out to Ellie in greeting.

  “Ellie, I’m so glad to see you.” Sotto voice after they gripped hands, she said, “Shane told me about your discussion this afternoon, and we’ll talk between ourselves later. If you want. Until then, I’ll continue to call you Ellie until you tell me different. “

  “Please,” Ellie replied. “And I do want to talk later. I have dozens of questions, and I’m still not sure about all this.”

  “I understand.”

  From the corner of her eye, Ellie saw Elvina watching them closely. Her stepmother’s wariness surprised Ellie. She would have thought Elvina would fall all over herself to make points with someone of Mariana Morgan’s social standing. Instead, Elvina appeared reluctant to have her as a guest.

  Her eyes didn’t linger on her stepmother, however. Unerringly, they veered to the tall man standing just inside the door. He had hung his hat on the wooden rack provided in the entrance foyer, and his broad shoulders nearly blocked the doorway. He held her gaze, making no bones about the fact his interest lay in Ellie, not any of the other people in the group. He started toward her, but Elvina stepped into his path—deliberately, it appeared.

  “We haven’t had many guests recently,” she said, “but I do want to welcome you to our ranch, Mariana. I asked Withers if he would serve us some libations before dinner in the parlor. It’s right this way.”

  She took Mariana’s arm and led her across the hallway to the parlor. As she passed Ellie, Elvina hooked her other arm in hers, leading her along with them. Short of digging in her heels and embarrassing both Elvina and herself, Ellie had no choice but to go along.

  Withers waited in the parlor, and when Ellie managed a questioning look at him, he shrugged his shoulders. Evidently he had no idea of Fatima’s mood, and Ellie could only hope the coming meal would go smoothly.

  “I’ve always wanted to see New York,” Elvina said, motioning Mariana to the settee and Ellie to sit beside her.

  “Well, maybe you’ll get your chance, Mrs. Parker,” Rockford said.

  “Oh?”

  “Yes.” He took Darlene’s hand and held it to his mouth, kissing it briefly. “I haven’t had a chance yet to tell Darlene, but Shane and I have come to an agreement about the business expansion. It looks like I might be able to support a family soon. And that I might be doing that in New York.”

  Ellie gave Shane a grateful look as Darlene disregarded propriety and flung herself into Rockford’s arms. Excited chatter flew around the room, but Shane only nodded, his gaze never leaving Ellie’s. In fact, Ellie had felt his eyes on her continuously since his arrival. But there would be no chance for privacy this evening.

  She fervently hoped not, anyway. She felt as ill-prepared to deal with her feelings for Shane tonight as she had when she rode away from the creek earlier.

  Amid the discussion of the city Darlene would call home, Ellie noticed Withers slip out. A moment later, he came back in and announced dinner. Rockford escorted Darlene, of course, and Elvina captured both Mariana and Ellie once more, leaving Shane to tag along behind. Ellie didn’t understand her stepmother’s actions, since Elvina hadn’t paid this much attention to her in years, but she accepted the chance to avoid Shane for a while longer.

  In the dining room, Ellie halted in shock until Elvina pulled her forward. The table hadn’t been set this gorgeously since George Parker died and Elvina gave up formal entertaining.

  “What a lovely table,” Mariana Morgan said, confirming Ellie’s thoughts.

  She was right. Though the extensions weren’t added in the middle, in order to keep the small party more intimate, nothing else had been spared. A snowy white cloth covered the table, with short candles burning in two candelabras, so as not to impede conversation across the table. They set on either side of a low centerpiece of white and pink roses, a match for the china at each place setting. The flower scent lingered pleasantly in the air, and water and wine goblets were already filled. Silverware gleamed in reflected candlelight.

  Ellie breathed a sigh of relief, hoping this indicated Fatima’s acceptance of her duty to serve a nice meal to their guests.

  They settled at the table, with Mariana asking Shane if he would take the seat at the far end from her. Since she placed Ellie in the chair on her left and settled Mariana on her right, Elvina’s seating pattern effectively separated Shane from Ellie once again.

  Conversation continued to swirl as Fatima silently carried in containers and set them in front of Elvina to serve.

  “This is very lovely,” Ellie told her after Fatima set down the bowl of whipped potatoes. Fatima didn’t answer, only nodded then disappeared back into the kitchen. A stab of unease hit Ellie.

  Though everything appeared delicious and she dutifully took a serving of each portion as it passed, Ellie had n
o appetite. No one except Shane seemed to notice that she merely toyed with her food. Finally she caught his frown, then his eyes drifted down to her full plate. With a sigh, she stabbed a piece of roast beef on her fork and forced it into her mouth.

  She nearly spat it out a lot quicker than she had picked it up. It was loaded with salt! Under the guise of wiping her mouth, she enclosed the meat in her napkin and lowered it to her lap.

  Staring around the table, she noticed everyone else relishing their meals. Except Shane.

  “You do have a wonderful cook,” Mariana told Elvina just then. “I’ll have to ask her for her recipe for this marvelous cheese sauce on the asparagus.”

  “Fatima is incredible,” Elvina agreed. “Wait until you taste her rum sauce on the bread pudding for dessert. Why, I have to watch myself with her, or I’d gain weight just looking at the food.”

  Mariana laughed in accompaniment to Mariana’s chuckle, then glanced at Ellie’s plate, lifting her brow in question. Ellie cut off a piece of asparagus and dipped it in the cheese sauce. A moment later, it joined the beef in her napkin. Grabbing her water glass, she gulped and tried to rinse the sour taste out of her mouth. If she kept this up, her entire meal would end up in her napkin. Why didn’t the nasty food appear to bother anyone else?

  She looked down the table at Shane’s plate and saw it now empty. When she caught his gaze, he flicked his head ever so slightly at the plant sitting on the floor behind him. Evidently his food was resting beneath one of the broad leaves now.

  Fatima! Fatima’s magic had spoiled only hers and Shane’s food. Not giving anyone a chance to stop her, Ellie shoved her chair back and stood.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said. “I need to see Fatima briefly.”

  Hurrying into the kitchen, she found Withers there alone. He gave her a guilty stare, and she noticed one of the plates from the bunkhouse sitting on the counter. Another plate was in the sink, scraped fairly clean but with a few remnants of the meal clinging to it.

  “You went out and got a plate from Cookie,” she accused Withers.

  “Did she ruin all the food for dinner?” he asked worriedly.

  “Evidently just mine and Shane’s. Where is she?”

  “A headache, she said. She went to her room after asking me to serve the dessert. And—” He gave the dessert dishes on the tray a contemplating look. “She said the two on the end were yours and Shane’s.”

  Ellie stomped over to the tray and removed the two undoubtedly offensive bowls of bread pudding. “Where did she put the rest of the pudding?”

  Withers went over to the pie cupboard and opened the doors. Inside Ellie saw a covered bowl and a small pitcher beside it. She doubted Fatima would have spoiled the leftover pudding, since someone might ask for a second helping. She took two fresh bowls down, and placed them on the counter for Withers to fill.

  “I’ll bring it right in, Miss Ellie,” he said.

  Nodding her head in satisfaction, Ellie returned to the dining room. When Withers came in a few seconds later with the dessert tray and a pot of coffee, she managed to give Shane a surreptitious nod, indicating the pudding was safe to eat. He smiled his gratitude and dug into the bowl Withers placed in front of him.

  Chapter 24

  Shane openly approached Elvina when she rose to indicate they would retire to the parlor again for an after-dinner drink or more coffee, whichever anyone preferred.

  “I’ll escort Ellie,” he said when Elvina started to take Ellie’s arm. He suited action to words and nudged his hand in to capture Ellie’s elbow first. Elvina’s face indicated surprise, which faded into something Ellie almost thought was apprehension before she shuttered her eyes. Moving over to Mariana, Elvina walked out of the dining room with her.

  “How did she do that?” Shane asked.

  Instinctively, Ellie knew he referred to the meal, but his hand on her arm was so warm, so comforting. So...Shane. She had yearned for this closeness all day, even when she kept the barrier of distance between them, both physically and with her sharp words.

  “The meal,” he explained when she didn’t answer his inquiry. “How could she make our food taste so bad when we took our servings from the same containers as everyone else at the table?”

  “I told you this morning. She claims to have magical powers.”

  “I see.” His tone indicated he didn’t, but this was one subject Ellie didn’t intend to pursue yet.

  Ellie started to walk away from the table, but Shane caught her other arm and held her in place. Looking around, she saw they were alone in the dining room, since Rockford and Darlene had followed the other women.

  “Ellie, I’m not going to leave things like they were this morning,” Shane told her firmly. “I’ll give you time to think about things, since so much was dropped on you all at once. But if you won’t fight for our love, I intend to.”

  “That’s the problem, Shane,” she said sadly. “I don’t know if there really is love to fight for.”

  He stifled a shocked gasp, and Ellie pulled her arms free. “It’s all been built on a relationship between two people who don’t really exist. Who aren’t who they’re supposed to be—aren’t really the two people who fell in love. You’re not a nice businessman from New York, who came here and whom I fell in love with. You’re someone who had a hidden agenda for your trip.”

  She pushed a loose tress of hair threatening her vision back in place, noticing a lock of Shane’s hair in disarray at the same moment. But she refused to give in to the urge to smooth the tawny curl back from his forehead.

  “And I’m not Ellie Parker,” she continued. “Or I might not be. I’m not Cynthia Spencer, either, because her life was taken from her nearly eighteen years ago. How can I even think about letting someone else share a life with me until I know what that life entails? Until I know who I am myself?”

  “If you cared as much for me as I do for you, Ellie, you’d let me help you through this confusion.”

  “That’s unfair, Shane! You can’t tell me how I should handle this, because you can’t have the slightest idea what this is doing to me. If you feel I’m selfish because I don’t have room in my emotions right now to take your feelings into consideration, I’m sorry about that. But it’s the way things are. Besides, don’t forget that your own actions helped create my predicament.”

  “You’re the unfair one, Ellie. I have gone through something similar. After the explosion, I wasn’t the same man I was prior to it. And I can tell you truthfully that I wished many times for someone to share that confusion with me—help me sort it all out. I had Mother, but the woman I loved—the woman I thought loved me—walked out on me, leaving me to handle everything alone.”

  It was Ellie’s turn to be shocked. He was right; she was being unfair. But unfair or not, she had to sort through things and decide who she was before she could trust her own feelings once again. Before she could even know if her feelings were her own, for that matter, or whether they belonged to a woman inside her, whom she had yet to meet and understand.

  Shane took her hands. “Just give me a chance, Ellie. Don’t cut me out of your life completely right now. Have dinner with me tomorrow night, and let’s talk. Let’s talk honestly. By then you’ll have had some time to initially sort through some of this in your mind. And if you can tell me truthfully that you don’t want to see me again after tomorrow night, I’ll believe you. I’ll accept your decision and leave you alone.”

  “Ellie,” Darlene said from the doorway. “Mother has something she wants to talk to you about.”

  Ellie tugged at her hands, but Shane refused to relinquish his grasp.

  “Tomorrow?” he asked.

  “All right,” she agreed, a glow of relief filling her at his persistence and recognizing this was truly what she wanted all along. She wanted him to explain things, make her see that there was a reason for the way he had gone about his investigation.

  She wanted them to get their love back—the future that ling
ered out there somewhere beyond reach right now, in the netherworld of misunderstandings.

  “Ellie?” Darlene repeated.

  “We’re coming.”

  Darlene’s skirts whispered as her sister left, but instead of following immediately, Ellie stood unmoving. Shane’s head was bending, and he meant to kiss her. She wanted that kiss with everything in her, and she intended to have it.

  His lips met hers softly, firmly, lingeringly and with a yearning that matched the deep need inside her. All too soon he raised his head and left a sense of loss on her lips instead of the warmth and succor she craved—the flicker of desire even this slight caress stimulated.

  He stared at her for a long moment, his gold-dust eyes filled with deep, shadowed feelings. For one brief instant, she considered asking him to sneak out of the house with her. Considered the two of them finding some privacy to sift through their difficulties now instead of tomorrow night. But Shane dropped her hands and wrapped an arm around her waist, steering her out of the dining room and toward the parlor, where either some answers or more questions waited for her.

  All eyes went to her and Shane when they entered the room, and Ellie couldn’t help but wonder what all Mariana had told Elvina and Darlene. Elvina took a sip from a glass of sherry in her hand, then indicated for Ellie and Shane to sit on the settee she had occupied earlier.

  “I have something to discuss,” Elvina said. Then she reached for another glass of sherry already poured on a serving tray, handing it to Ellie. Beside it was a smaller glass holding an amber liquid, which she handed to Shane.

  Although Ellie seldom drank, she accepted the sherry. She had heard spirits actually helped a person handle strain, as long as one didn’t over-imbibe. She sipped from the glass, and after a second, did actually feel a loosening in her shoulders.

  Instead of seating herself, Elvina continued to stand in front of the empty fireplace.